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The Swiss Funds Association has welcomed the European Parliament’s decision to pass the EU Directive on Alternative Investment Fund Managers.
The SFA says that compared with the draft presented in April 2009, the directive in its present form contains two significant improvements from the Swiss perspective.
Under the AIFM Directive there remains the possibility for portfolio management and/or risk management for an alternative investment fund established in the EU to be delegated to a Swiss-domiciled manager, provided the latter is subject to FINMA supervision.
In addition, Swiss asset managers may at a later date acquire authorization in respect of marketing
New European Union-wide rules on the marketing of alternative investment funds overcame the final hurdle this afternoon when the European Parliament adopted, by 513 votes to 92 with three abstentions, the Directive on Alternative Investment Fund Managers.
The directive will impose registration, reporting and initial capital requirements on all funds not covered by the Ucits directives on the cross-border marketing of retail funds, as well as rules on asset stripping aimed at private equity firms and provisions that would require the deferment of a substantial part of the remuneration of alternative fund managers.
It also includes provisions that will tighten
Investment banking firm Dougherty has launched its first hedge fund, the Dougherty Absolute Equity Fund.
Portfolio manager Bob Schnell, who has spent the last 12 years managing similar fund strategies for Telluride Asset Management and Deephaven Capital Management, believes the fund offers a unique approach for hedge fund investors.
"The massive consolidation within equity research and the growth in exchange-traded funds have created a large void in the area of traditional fundamental stock picking," he says. "Dougherty & Co., through its existing research and investment operations, provides an ideal platform for a fundamental based hedge fund investment strategy."
Schnell defines
Spot Trading, an equity options trading firm, has appointed Stephen A. Brodsky as chief financial officer.
The former president and chief financial officer of the holding company for the Chicago Stock Exchange will assume the role on 22 November.
Brodsky’s responsibilities will include ensuring the privately held company’s continued fiscal integrity and leading Spot’s efforts in strategic financial planning, budgeting, financial analysis and financial reporting.
He will also serve on Spot’s senior management team and work with the firm’s business partners, including exchanges, outside auditors, clearing firms, lenders and other financial institutions.
Rob Merrilees, founder and chief executive, says: "We’re
Merlin Securities, a prime brokerage services and technology solutions provider, has launched operations in Canada after receiving approval from the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada to operate as a dealer member.
Daniel Dorenbush has been appointed chief executive of Merlin Canada.
Merlin Canada will offer custody and clearing through the National Bank Correspondent Network, a subsidiary of National Bank Financial, in addition to Merlin’s current roster of US clearing and custodial options.
“We are delighted to have Daniel on board and to be working with NBCN, the Canadian leader in third-party and brokerage services,” says Aaron Vermut, co-founder and
HSBC Private Bank is maintaining its highest conviction overweight in hedge funds in the belief that the current investment environment calls for an active approach to risk management which can be provided by hedge funds.
Willem Sels, UK head of investment strategy at HSBC Private Bank, says: “Our view that we will avoid a double dip recession appears to be gaining ground, particularly given the additional quantitative easing in the US announced last week. We remain optimistic regarding the future opportunity set for hedge fund managers. As evidenced by the events of recent months, the current investment environment calls for
Asian hedge funds continued their strong performance in the third quarter, with the HFRX China Index gaining 10.5 per cent, according to data released by Hedge Fund Research.
Strong Q3 returns have brought year-to-date performance of the HFRX China Index to 5.5 per cent, outperforming the benchmark Shanghai Composite by nearly 25 per cent.
As a result of the strong performance and indicative of the growing global investor interest in exposure to Asian markets, assets invested in Asian hedge funds increased by nearly USD4bn to USD78bn, inclusive of over USD300m in net new investor inflows.
The Asian hedge fund industry
Concordia Advisors, an independent hedge fund manager, has appointed Cathleen Rittereiser as director of investor relations and business development.
Rittereiser will initiate and manage relationships with institutional investors and advise Concordia on communications strategy.
Rittereiser is the co-author of two books, Top Hedge Fund Investors: Stories, Strategies, and Advice (Wiley, 2010) and Foundation and Endowment Investing (Wiley, 2008), and has over 20 years of experience in sales, marketing and relationship management roles.
She has worked with asset management and financial services firms such as Symphony Asset Management and Alternative Asset Managers.
Rittereiser began her career at Merrill Lynch,
Cornerstone Acquisition & Management, a sub-adviser to Centaur Performance Group, has acquired a portfolio of royalty interests in producing oil and gas properties located in Southern Oklahoma, operated by Houston-based Citation Oil and Gas.
“This transaction is indicative of the type of private assets we like to target and acquire for our investors,” says Derren Geiger, portfolio manager of the Caritas Funds and chief operating officer of Cornerstone.
Cornerstone currently manages in excess of USD100m of oil and natural gas royalty interests diversified across 21 states and several hundred counties.
“We target properties located 100 per cent onshore
Six out of seven of IndexIQ’s hedge fund replication and alternative beta indices posted a positive performance in October.
The best performing index was the IQ Hedge Long/Short Beta Index, which rose by 1.92 per cent in October and is up 5.97 per cent year-to-date.
The IQ Hedge Event-Driven Beta Index was up 1.28 per cent in October, the IQ Hedge Market Neutral Beta Index rose 0.56 per cent, the IQ Hedge Emerging Markets Beta Index rose 1.33 per cent, the IQ Hedge Fixed Income Arbitrage Beta Index gained 0.56 per cent and the IQ Hedge Composite Beta Index added
